Week 10 – Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery

If you are looking to visit temples in Singapore, I think Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery is one of the most worth-a-visit place you should go. Located at 184E Jalan Toa Payoh, Singapore. Built in 19th century by a devout Buddhist, Low Kim Pong.

There is a story about this monastery. Long time ago, in the year of 1898, Low Kim Pong and his son had a mutual dream in which both of them saw a man with golden light at a waterfront. After awake, he believed that that dream was an omen, so he and his son arrived at the waterfront and waited for the things to happen. Later on, Venerable Xian Hui and his family of twelve monks and nuns arrived at the waterfront at dusk. Venerable Xian Hui and his family of monks and nuns were invited to Low Kim Pong’s home for a sojourn. Later on, Low Kim Pong proposed to Venerable Xian Hui his vision of building a monastery in Singapore. Then, he donated 50 acres of land in the central part of the island (the present day Toa Payoh New Town) to build the monastery and invited Venerable Xian Hui to be the founding abbot of the monastery, and this project received support from the Chinese community in Singapore, as well as Malaysia and Indonesia.